We all love Music!

My Kindergarten class learning to write musical notes.

I had the most wonderful experience while on my Community Field Experience this year. At the beginning of the year, I had asked my faculty adviser to place me somewhere I had no connections, where I didn’t know anyone or anything about the school in order to see if I could truly “sink or swim”. It was the best thing I could have ever done! I was placed in a French Immersion public school literally in the middle of nowhere. Perfect!

Writing rhythms with rhythm (stir) sticks!

My first couple of days were a little scary and intimidating. I didn’t know anyone, anything about the school or the students but it was my chance to dive right in and see what I could do. My sponsor teacher was phenomenal and helped me along my journey. Her program consisted of Kindergarten to Grade 5 music, ESL grades 1 and 2 in addition to grade 6 English. Wow, I had my work cut out for me! I hadn’t really worked with students that young in this particular setting so it was new and exciting for everyone. The school I went to hadn’t had a student teacher in over 7 years and everyone knew my name before I walked through the door.

Instrument reference guide.

The music classes were so much fun! We worked various musical genres including African Drumming, movement and dance, recorder, guitar, ukulele, band, choir, Orff instruments and even composition. The ESL classes were neat too because I had the opportunity to work one on one with the students, which is something I hadn’t done before. Grade 6 English was definitely one of my favorites to teach and it was fun to see what creative innovations the students had. And boy, do they have opinions!

The school atmosphere was so inviting and welcoming. I was invited to attend staff meetings, sit in on parent association meetings, attend professional development conferences, help out at the local Track and Field meet, and even Sports Day! I even had the opportunity to run my own Girls Group to work on building healthy relationships and self-esteem. One of the highlights has to be the day I had the opportunity to teach Sex Ed… Yup! I got to experience a little bit of everything!

Practicing notation on the board.

During my CFE, I stayed on my family’s farm, which was a drastic change from the city life I have been living for the last 10 years. I had to re-learn how to collect eggs in the morning, feed the cows, chickens and horses, plant and harvest corn, blueberries, apples, lettuce, tomatoes, wheat and other produce and sell them at local farmer’s markets in town. One thing I loved most of all was being able to reconnect with my family and our crazy dog Patrick.